Matters of the Heart

How Do I Love Others Well?

Luke like Acts was written to Theophilus and a gentile Audience.

Luke shows that the gospel is universal, that Jesus has broken down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles and slaves and free and between men and women.

He includes social outcast, such as the immoral woman, Zacchaeus, the repentant criminal on the cross, the prodigal son. All of these stories and more find their home in the book of Luke.

Jesus preaches good news to the poor.

Luke just says blessed are the poor.

Mary says he has exalted the lowly, filled the hungry with good things.

Luke just says blessed are the hungry.

Luke was about Jesus and the People.

So, it would make sense that the verse that Pastor Ted preached on would be expounded on in the book of Luke.

Luke 10:25-37

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

And so, we talked on this, loving ourselves.

Allowing God to love us.

Accepting the love of others.

But Jesus continues.

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.

The road between Jerusalem and Jericho was a major thoroughfare for trading caravans, military personnel, and the pilgrims who visited Jerusalem multiple times each year. Given the isolated terrain, people on this road were easy targets for bandits, who would have found ample hiding places and escape routes into the desert where no one would pursue them. When Jesus said that “a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho” his listeners surely would have recognized the dangers that this journey posed.

A person who was robbed and beaten on this road would have been in a very vulnerable position—there would have been no food or water to find along the path to recover with, and no shelter from the elements. The victim would be utterly exposed and isolated—desperate for help.

And was known as the "Way of Blood" because "of the blood which is often shed there by robbers". Martin Luther King Jr., on the day before his assassination, described the road as follows:

I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles—or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're about 2200 feet below sea level. That's a dangerous road. — Martin Luther King Jr., "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (April 3, 1968)

http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=33100

31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

At points, the road is so narrow, a passerby would have had to literally step over their body. The callousness of the priest and Levite who ignored the victim stands out even more, given the geography.

In Jewish culture, contact with a dead body was understood to be defiling. Priests were particularly enjoined to avoid uncleanness. The priest and Levite may therefore have assumed that the fallen traveler was dead and avoided him to keep themselves ritually clean. Since the Mishnah made an exception for neglected corpses, the priest and the Levite could have used the law to justify both touching a corpse or ignoring it. In any case, passing by on the other side avoided checking "whether he was dead or alive". Indeed, "it weighed more with them that he might be dead and defiling to the touch of those whose business was with holy things than that he might be alive and in need of care.”

33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. In a further surprise, Jesus subverted his hearer’s expectations by explaining that it was a Samaritan who helped the man. Samaritans were known as the ones who would rob Jews on this road as they went “up” to Jerusalem from Jericho for their holy days. The listeners would have not only expected a Samaritan to be unsympathetic to the plight of the victim, but they would also have expected the Samaritan to be the perpetrator! Jesus' target audience, the Jews, hated Samaritans[4] to such a degree that they destroyed the Samaritans' temple on Mount Gerizim. Tensions were particularly high in the early decades of the 1st century because Samaritans had desecrated the Jewish Temple at Passover with human bones.

34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

1. Love goes to them…

Love goes out of their way…

He went to him…

That’s the precedent. Love goes to them.

(Example From My Life)

2. Love will cost you…

Oil. Wine. His own animal. Took care of him. Two denarii. And whatever more.

Loving your neighbor will cost you.

You will have to take a stand and not walk on the other side of the road.

There are too many people walking on the other side of the road.

There are too many Christians walking on the other side of the road.

Love would say it’s not enough just to be “not racist” we must be “anti-racist.”

Love would say its not enough to not bully but we must confront the “bullier.”

Love would say its not enough just to be present but to truly “hear and listen.”

Love would say its not enough just to say, there must be an action.

Love would say my political viewpoint, culture, way of thinking, upbringing,

is not bigger than loving my neighbor.

John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

3. Everything must be Sifted Through Love

1 Corinthians 13 says

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.

-My actions need to be sifted through Love

Are my physical actions patient, kind, not full of envy, arrogant, or boastful, or rude?

-My responses need to be sifted through Love

Are my verbal responses rejoicing with truth, believing all things, hoping all things?

-My post on Social Media must be sifted through Love

Are my post on social media kind, not offensive, does not insist on its own way?

-My thoughts need to be sifted through Love

Are my thoughts believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things?

-My Life needs to be filtered through love.

_________________ is patient and kind; __________________ does not envy or boast;

__________________________ is not arrogant or rude. _______________________________ does not

insist on their own way; _______________________ is not irritable or resentful;

_______________________________ does not rejoice at wrongdoing,

____________________________ rejoices with the truth. _______________________ bears all things

________________________ believes all things, _____________________ hopes all things,

_______________________________ endures all things.

Because of Christ, ________________________love never ends.